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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 3088408, member: 76194&quot;]Here is a coin I picked up of some emperor I don&#039;t really know a whole lot about. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie14" alt=":angelic:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This emperor is not really cool. So please do not buy any Gordian III coins at all....please! Especially not at Agora Auctions or any other places where one can get great deals on them. Ok?&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now that we got that out of the way, let&#039;s look at the coin itself. It is a silver antoninianus of Gordian III with a Sol reverse. This theme is also found on his denarius coins, and I believe he may even have a sestertius with the same reverse theme too.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]778845[/ATTACH]</p><p>Gordian III, 238 - 244 AD</p><p>Silver Antoninianus, Rome Mint, 22mm, 4.84 grams</p><p>Obverse: IMP GORDIANVS PIVS FEL AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian right.</p><p>Reverse: AETERNITATI AVG, Sol standing facing, head left, holding globe and raising hand.</p><p>RIC83</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><u>I would venture to say that the reverse is certainly one of his more interesting reverse themes</u>. It is Sol right around the time the cult of Sol Invictus was starting to rise to prominence during the early part of the Crisis of the Third Century. The reverse legend, an abbreviated version of&nbsp; AETERNITATI AVGVSTORUM, stands for &quot;Immortal Emperor&quot; and is an attempt to co-opt the properties of the late Roman Empire&#039;s sun deity with the emperor, ie. that the emperor was a divine and immortal being, more than just a mere human. I can see why that message would be so popular in these turbulent times where emperors came and went faster than the blink of an eye.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sol worship became so widespread during the mid-3rd century to late 3rd century that it seriously competed with Christianity, and as far as the 5th Century CE the Roman Catholic Church&#039;s authorities were still so fearful of the large following of Sol worshipers that St. Augustine saw the need to actively preach against Sol worship. Perhaps the greatest evidence for the success of Sol Invictus is the fact that we celebrate Christmas today on December 25. As some of you may know, Christmas is a&nbsp; replacement festival the early Christian chuch created to compete with the more popular Roman festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the `Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.`<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie33" alt=":cigar:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Share any Gordie or any Sol coins you think relevant.</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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